Electrify My Heart
by NAMANJAYDEN
Summary: Guess what? OC is a detective at the Detroit precinct (how original). Throughout the story she works alongside Hank and his new partner - Connor. During their time together she seems to cause the handsome android some grievances with his software stability (again, very original). Connor causes the female detective many problems as well, but he always seems to make up for them.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! This story will be semi-cannon so if I don't mention a key cannon plot point, just assume it hasn't happened yet. My goal is to prolong the tension as long as possible… because I. LOVE. SEXUAL. TENSION. So this will be the golden example of a slow burn. Please enjoy! [EDITED THE WHOLE THING SO IT IS NOT A READER INSERT]

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-JESSICA- - - - -

Rain fell down on her, gracing the absorbent fibers of her coat with a cold wetness. The jacket she wore was heavier now, due to the rain. The cold sogginess reminded her of the vicious cycle she was stuck in where she would curse herself out to buy an actual raincoat, forget to buy one, and then get into another rainy situation where she would curse herself out again.

She stared at the house ahead as the other detective walked up its rotted wooden steps.

"Alright doll-face, after you." The unnerving detective named Gavin, although she preferred to call him asshole, gestured for her to walk into the decaying house.

She passed him, must like the sigh that passed her lips. "You gotta quit calling me that, asshole." She continued inside, thankful to be out of the rain.

"Hey, you keep using my nickname, then I'll keep using yours." Gavin walked up beside her as he scanned the area.

She ignored his comment and examined her surroundings as well. It was a simple abandoned house, and by the looks of the bags of chips on the ground it was recently abandoned.

"Alright. You head upstairs and I'll check the ground floor."

"Got it doll-face." He chimed out as he climbed the stairs slowly.

"Asshole." She shook you head and muttered.

The detective searched the living room, dining room, and mud room. She rummaged through the kitchen drawers and stopped as soon as she found an odd height difference in the bottom of one of the drawers. Adrenaline pumped as she pulled out your pocket knife and jammed it underneath the fake bottom of the drawer. The thrill of finding something useful engulfed her as she saw a small notebook. Real paper, she hadn't seen that in a while. It didn't surprise her that drug dealers were using it though, it was untraceable through any digital means. But it was still physical, and it was still there to use as a lead.

She skimmed through the pages, finding exactly what she needed. Locations and dates of Red Ice shipments. Footsteps came down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"I found nothin'."

The female detective turned to face the asshole, lips curving into a cheeky grin as she slapped the notebook against her hand.

"I found our lead."

The fiery detective's heart raced and eyes glistened as a triumphant smirk cut into her cheeks. Still damp in her non-waterproof coat, she barged into the police station, bagged notebook in hand, and headed straight to the one person you wanted to gloat to.

"Hank! Look who hit the jackp-"

She stopped mid-sentence realising the man she were looking for was not there. Instead there was an unrecognizable face peering back at her from the other desk. As she got closer to him, her brows started to furrow as the blue arm band came into sight. Why was there an android sitting in the desk across from Hank?

The android tilted his head ever so slightly, as if to replicate the look of enquiry. The soft lock of his dark brown hair shifted slightly as he swivelled in his chair with precision to face her.

"Hello, are you looking for Lieutenant Anderson?" His voice was soft yet insistent, as if it were a mix of 'good cop, bad cop'.

The woman released the tension in her brows and quickly broke off the stare she held on him as she looked to the lieutenant's desk for a millisecond. Her face softened as she returned her gaze back at the android, he appeared mildly eager to hear her reply.

"Oh. Uh yeah. Do you know where he is?" She stuttered out as she came down from her excitement in an embarrassed fashion.

Without breaking eye contact he nodded. "I was given information that the time of his arrival is dependent on what bar he was at the night before." His statement, although probably not funny to him, made the detective break out into a smirk as she shook your head. That was a perfect sentence to sum up Hank.

It would seem as though her smile was contagious because the android seated before her smiled as well, that or it was trying to mimic her emotion. Strangely, _its_ smile felt real which confused the detective a lot.

"Was my statement amusing?" His brows pulled into a faint furrow, searching her face for an answer.

The woman broke her stare on him again. Taken aback by her lack of social skills in regards to impolitely staring.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about how accurate it was." She chuckled at the thought of Hank's consistent tardiness.

The android tilted his head again as if trying to understand something. "So you find accuracy amusing. Interesting."

The detective opened her mouth to correct him, but realised the effort to help him understand would go wasted as he was probably incapable of wrapping his mind around the confusing concept of humor. Instead she closed her mouth and looked down at the clear bag in her hand.

She sighed, slightly disappointed that you had to wait for the sliver of approval she knew you'd get from Hank. The detective knew he'd be proud of her, even if it didn't completely show through his 'grumpy old drunk man' act.

"What did you need him for?" The android's assertive yet gentle voice took the woman out of her thoughts, and she snapped to look back up at him. "When he comes back, I could notify him that you were here. That way you won't have to wait." The corners of his lips rose slightly along with the tips of his ears and corners of his eyes. Yup, that was a textbook human smile, or at least what it should look like. But she were a sucker for a smile of any kind, that's why you did she best to smile all the time – to spread it around. And it would seem that even androids have contagious smiles, for the detective smiled back warmed by his offer.

"Well…" She looked at her watch, then around the office. It was noon, Hank should be here soon. "You're waiting here for him too right?" She pulled out the chair from her own desk and rolled it over to the android.

"Yes." He watched as the woman sat down in front of him.

"Then we can wait for him together." She smiled at him, searching his eyes for any hint that he was picking up on what she were getting at. "You know… keep each other company." As much company as a person could get from an android.

"Alright then." He confirmed and straightened his already perfect seated posture.

She sat there for a brief second until she realised she hadn't introduced herself. With a jump, she reached out her hand. "I'm detective Jessica Mayfield."

-CONNOR- - - - -

He had already scanned through her profile the moment she walked into the room, she was the only new stimulus to enter the environment around him. The way she burst through the doors with determination was also attention grabbing, not to mention the peculiar way she looked at him mid-sentence. But he continued with the greeting, and shook her hand as though he didn't know her.

"Hello, my name is Connor. I am an android sent by CyberLife to assist Lieutenant Hank Anderson." His dictation was clear and concise.

"Oh." She looked at him with confusion and shock. "Assist him with a case?" She aimed to clarify what Connor had said.

"Yes, the case involving the Deviant androids."

She nodded, eyes flicking down to the floor as she thought over what he said. It was as though there was some sort of conflict in her mind. Connor picked out emotional signatures on her face, registering that she was upset and slightly annoyed. The look of annoyance was one that Connor saw a lot, many humans found him to be of some sort of annoyance no matter what he did. He felt the need to probe her for an answer to her annoyance, maybe he could troubleshoot for a solution.

"Jessica, you seem distressed or annoyed. Have I caused you any disturbance?"

The woman recoiled at his words, shocked by what he said.

"What? God no. It's just…"Her eyes wandered to look at the desk across from Connor. "I was going to work with Hank on the next case he got." She flashed a frown, but then looked at him and smiled. "I can't blame you for being assigned with him. It's not your fault." She was being genuine. It seemed as though Connor was not the source of someone's annoyance, for once.

"I'm sure we could still use your assistance with the case." Connor offered a small smile which the woman mirrored back.

In a millisecond he caught the small detail in her hands, her grip tightened on the bagged book she held. To continue the conversation, Connor questioned her. "What is that in your hand?"

"This?" She held it up. "This is now evidence found by yours truly. Not only will it be extremely useful in court, but it has tons of shipping locations for Red Ice." That determined look she entered the room with finally returned. "I've been questioning witnesses for so long and getting nowhere. So I'm pretty fucking happy I found it." A scoff escaped her lungs bringing her parted lips to Connor's attention. His eyes quickly flicked back up to hers. She was waiting for a response now.

"I'm sure information like that was hidden well. Which means you must have a perceptive eye at finding evidence." He coldly calculated but also warmly complimented.

A coy side smile grew on her face as she rose an eyebrow, pleased with his comment but still unaccepting of it. "How very _perceptive_ of you." She waggled her head, and Connor could detect she was mocking him in a sense. But it didn't seem aggressive or mean spirited, it felt… playful.

Just then a figure entered the room and Connor had to pull his eyes away from Jessica's in order to look over her shoulder.

"Lieutenant Anderson." He spoke out loud enough to demand the man's attention. Jessica turned her head to look at the lieutenant.

"Oh no. Not you." Lieutenant Anderson grumbled as he hung his head trying to avoid eye contact, or any contact, with the android.

Connor tracked the disgruntled man as he moved to sit down. "I've been meaning to debrief with you about the recent deviant that was de-"

"Hush it. You're interrupting Jess." The lieutenant cut him off as he gestured to the quiet woman sitting across from him.

Connor then directed his attention to her, unaware that he was even interrupting, and before he could utter any apology she spoke up.

"I think I can wait a little bit longer." She slowly stated as a devious expression graced her face. She turned to look at him as she leaned back into her chair. "You can continue Connor."

Connor stared at her face, cunning yet… playful again.

"Oh don't tell me you've sided with _it_."

Connor looked to the Lieutenant.

"I don't know. Seeing as how you made us both wait, I'd have to say I've bonded with him."

Connor looked back to her.

"What do you think, Connor?" She smiled with that underlying playful trickery, and winked at him.

Connor felt a skip in his processing.

He felt his brows relax as the corner of his mouth pulled up.

"Yes, I've learned quite a bit about you, Jessica."


	2. Chapter 2

Yes, I use the blatant POV announcement titles. I'm sorry, but I like it.

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-JESSICA- - - - -

Jessica's coat was still damp even after being seated in the office for an hour. She scanned the room to see Gavin get his third coffee while Fowler had a heated conversation on his phone. Amidst the slowly flowing ecosystem that was the bullpen, she spotted out Connor and Hank as they looked to be finished with their debriefing. Her view on them was blocked by the back of another officer, the LED display on his uniform was broken. The detective couldn't help but stare as she wondered how those things were even powered. She glared intently at it, really focusing in on what it could possibly be made of. All of a sudden, the officer walked away revealing a pair of brown eyes that were staring back at her from across the room. He sat there calmly looking at her as if he had been observing her the whole time. Jessica was locked in Connor's gaze until she tore her eyes away from him, she immediately glanced down at her desk and attempted to look busy so she could salvage her composure.

 _He was really staring at you._ That thought alone sent a strange warm jolt through her that set fire to her cheeks.

She glanced back up at the android who now seemed to be engrossed with whatever was on his display monitor.

After waiting patiently, Jessica felt it was finally time to receive the praise she had waited for from the very beginning. With a huff, she pulled the bagged notebook out of her desk drawer, stood up, and made her way over to Hank.

-CONNOR- - - - -

Detective Mayfield was headed towards Lieutenant Anderson with the book in her hand. A quick scan of her face revealed pride and a hint of satisfaction.

"Alright you old fart! Now that I have your attention –"

Her abrupt greeting made Conner flinch his head back. The book was dropped on Lieutenant Anderson's desk. The disgruntled man looked at the item, then back at the woman. A faint smirk teased the corner of the lieutenant's mouth as he picked it up and took it out of the bag to examine it.

"Well… well… well. You really hit it big with this one kid." He skimmed through the pages.

'Old fart' and 'kid', these terms when said to these types of people were usually considered insults but Connor could not detect any hostility between the man and woman.

"I know! Just when I thought the case was fucked." A large sigh exited her parted lips as she beamed at the seated man. "I might even get a promotion if things keep going good."

Lieutenant Anderson merely smiled at her and nodded his head, handing back the item to her. When Connor looked back at the young detective he could see the look on her face – it was as if she glowed, an odd anomaly seeing as though the sun wasn't out and the light fixtures were so high above them. This unalloyed look pulled Connor in, causing his chair to creak slightly as he leaned forward faintly.

"We gotta celebrate." Her eyebrows rose. "Drinks on you of course."

Hank scoffed as he shook his head. "Alright, how's tonight sound?"

"Hank. It's Monday." She exclaimed. "I know you can waltz into work after 12 the next morning with no problems, but I can't." She placed her hands on her hips. "Please make it a Friday."

Lieutenant Anderson looked back at his monitor. Hopefully getting back to the mission at hand. "Beggars can't be choosers, kid."

The case had been delayed for too long. Connor already had their next Deviant to search for and he was not willing to waste any more time as the malfunctioning android got away.

The woman leaned on the lieutenant's desk. "Pleas-"

"If I may interrupt lieutenant, I have found a lead and believe we should act on it as soon as possible." Connor stood up, grabbing the attention of the two humans.

Right now the mission comes first.

Anderson slowly turned his head to face Connor. "Listen here, the case can wait for a bit. We've only been here for 30 minutes, give me some time to settle." He leaned back in his chair.

"Lieutenant, we have been here for 1 hour, 29 minutes, and 44 seconds. Is that not enough time to rest?" Connor was persistent.

Anderson's anger visibly grew, something that Jessica took note of.

"Hank." She simply said in a soft tone.

He grunted loudly, loud enough even for Fowler to hear in his glass office. "Fine." He stood abruptly and sneered at Connor. "Give me a second, I need to use the shitter."

"Alright." Connor confirmed.

This confirmation seemed to irritate the lieutenant further as he turned and made his way to the bathrooms with a huff.

"Hey! Friday night at Jimmy's!" The female detective shouted out. Connor took note of the date and stored it away for any future use.

"Yeah, yeah…" Anderson waved his hand without looking back.

Connor looked to the woman, she seemed pleased with his aloof response. This reminded him of the anomaly from before.

"Excuse me, Detective Mayfield. But how do you uphold a civil relationship with the lieutenant, even after exchanging insulting names?"

Her brows dramatically creased inward.

"Insulting names? W- What did I say?" She seemed concerned.

"You called him an 'Old fart'." Connor stated flatly.

At the mention of the nickname her face broke into a large smile as she rolled her eyes. "Oh! Oh…" She shook her head. "That's just my nickname for him. It may sound offensive out of context but I only call him that as a joke." She carefully explained and paused, thinking for a moment. "That's kind of what friends do."

The detective and lieutenant are possible friends.

"You're friends with the lieutenant?" Connor asked in search for a clear confirmation.

Her smile was accompanied by a shrug and furrowed brows. "Yeah… I'd say so. I mean, he doesn't yell at me anymore."

So, Anderson yelled at people, even those who are now his friends. His short temper and agitated behaviour were now established as basic mannerisms he naturally possessed.

"Oh." Connor paused. Maybe Anderson would stop yelling at him at some point.

"Hey." The detective called for his attention, greeting his gaze with sincere eyes. "He'll warm up to you. It just takes time." The corner of her mouth rose and there was another skip in Conner's processing.

"Right." He nodded and continued to stand, waiting for Lieutenant Anderson.

There was a small pause before the detective shifted her weight to leave. But before she turned around, her eyes watched Connor's as if she analyzed him.

"Good luck with the case, Connor." A mix of worry and hope surfaced on her face.

It took a moment for Connor to register this as empathy. He was not used to receiving actual compassion from humans, politeness maybe, but earnest empathy… never. With that discovery came another skip in his processing, this hiccup delayed him from giving her a response.

He tilted his head. "And you with yours detective Mayfield."

-JESSICA- - - - -

The tired detective spent the rest of your day seated with a coffee in the break room. Tuesday flashed by faster than spoiled Chinese food passed through her body. An unsightly image but nothing worse than what she discovered at the locations written in the notebook. Androids and humans torn apart in abandoned buildings as if they were discarded trash waiting to decompose. It would seem as though possible Deviants were leaking into her case.

At the thought of Deviants, Jessica's gaze flicked from her coffee cup over towards Hank's desk. She relaxed into the stool, leaning her elbows against the coffee table. Their cases might actually be crossing over.

Jessica continued to idly rub her index knuckle against her bottom lip. The slight painful irritation provided the woman with some stimulus that, in a way, was satisfying. Her knuckle was replaced by her teeth as she became impatient with Hank's arrival. She needed information on the Deviants to see if there was any correlation between rouge androids and the brutal scenes she had witnessed. The soft tissue of her lip cried out for mercy, and it received it when her gaze landed on Connor who now entered the office. His strides were confident and his body had little sway to it as he glided through the room. The detective's hand gripped the paper coffee cup to steady it in preparation for her call out to Connor.

"Connor! Can I speak with you?"

The android first turned his head to look at who called, then the rest of his body followed as he registered who she was and what her command was. He was now standing on the other side of the table, his head titled slightly to the side with that quizzical expression.

"Yes detective. What would you like to speak with me about?" He blinked.

"I was wondering if you guys would tag along with me to the next location on my list. I think Deviants are involved and figured we could help each other out." Jessica offered him a warm smile, unable to resist the urge to make him smile back.

After he processed what she said, her wish came true - the corners of his mouth twitched up slightly.

Man. There was something about his simple smile, it's like it was barely there. Just small enough, as if it should be kept secret to everyone except for who it was directed to. Jessica wondered if he always smiled like that in response to other people's interactions.

"That does sound beneficial. Is it alright if I cross check the locations with information that I've gathered?" His brows furrowed in anticipation for her reply.

"To find the location relative to your case?" She wanted to confirm to make sure they were on the same track.

"Precisely." He perked up, as though he was happy she too was on the same wave length. That small smile twitched on his face again this time making his eyes squint ever so slightly.

Jessica found herself slipping into those brown eyes, they look real… but-

"Hey! It's the tin can." The voice she dreaded to hear broke her out of her trance. Jessica and Connor looked at the incoming co-worker.

"Doll-face, check it out. It grabs coffee for me. How's that for tax payer's money well spent." He turned to Connor and jerked his chin up at him with a crinkled nose. "Go get me a coffee you plastic prick."

Just as Connor went to move, Jessica reached over and grabbed Connor's shoulder.

"Connor, sit down. Don't listen to this asshole." She stared down Gavin as she applied some downward pressure onto Conner. He obliged and sat down on the stool next to her. The female detective looked to Connor who seemed to be processing something.

Just as Gavin was about to speak, Connor tilted his head looking between the two detectives.

"Asshole? Is that your nickname for Detective Reed?" He blinked. Once again, another perfect sentence to come out of his perfect mouth – something he didn't understand was funny but she found hilarious.

Jessica's laugh caught Connor off guard and he stared at her, perplexed by her reaction. She licked her lips as she finished laughing and sunk her teeth into her bottom lip as she held back another laugh. Connor examined the woman's expression and smiled back with creased brows, he was clearly confused but definitely not upset by it. That little expression made Jessica's heart leap a little, reminding her just how _new_ and _innocent_ Connor was.

"Is that some sort of snide remark?" Gavin, once again, ruined the woman's moment as he stepped up to the seated android and pushed his finger hard against his chest.

Connor's confused smile fell immediately and Jessica's heart dropped lower than the corners of his lips.

Her attention turned to Gavin as she, quite audibly, smacked his hand away from Connor. Jessica assertively pointed her finger at him as if it were a weapon.

"Leave him the fuck alone, or I'm gonna dump this weeks' worth of paperwork on your shoulders. And I know for a fact you're already behind. So if you want to keep your head above water, then I suggest you get a fucking move on." Her lip curled up as she sneered at him.

Gavin backed up and sucked on his tooth.

"We share the paperwork." He emphasized the word 'share' and glared at her as he walked away.

The female detective sighed as she watched him leave, her and Connor were finally at peace again.

"Did I… escalate the situation?" Connor's voice sounded subtly troubled.

"No… you…" Jessica searched for a reason to logically explain why it wasn't his fault and that it's just because Gavin's an asshole. But that look he gave her, he seemed so concerned about his own ability to socialize. She didn't want him to blame himself. "No, Connor. What you did was make my day."

She smiled at him.

And he smiled back.


	3. Chapter 3

-CONNOR- - - - -

"Connor! What are you doing?"

Jessica's stress elevated voice broke through the repetitive sound of rain. Connor turned to watch her rush out of the station with an umbrella in hand.

"You told me to wait for you outside."

She shook her head as she hurried towards him. She held the umbrella over his head as well as her own and looked at him dumbfounded.

"Not in the rain!" She glanced up at the grey sky from beneath the safety of the umbrella. Her attention was directed back towards the wet android and she looked him up and down. "You're gonna catch-"She stopped herself but Conner completed the unfinished sentence.

"-a cold?" He smirked at her, pleased with her consideration. But they both knew that androids weren't affected or bothered by the rain, at least he thought she knew that.

"No." She glared at him. Connor noted the sudden rush of blood to her cheeks. She must have elevated her blood pressure from that rush to get outside. But her voice trailed off. "I was gonna say …'You're gonna… ruin your hair'."

Connor lowered a brow as he watched the back of her head swivel while she looked around. "I assure you, my hair cannot be ruined by the rain. The fibers are resistant to all types of precipitation."

She sighed. "Alright there, hot shot. No need to brag." Her face was out of Connor's view and from what she said, he could only assume she was mad.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to sound arrogant, I was just trying to inform you." He sternly offered his expression of regret.

But her head turned to show that trademarked cunning smirk.

"I'm just kidding, Connor." She chuckled and started to walk over to the police cursor that pulled up.

She handed Connor the umbrella and made her way to the driver's side of the car. Before she entered she looked at him as he stood there. "C'mon Connor, this coat ain't waterproof."

With that he swiftly closed the umbrella and entered the car.

Not a minute of silence went by in the vehicle before Connor spoke up.

"You like to 'kid' around a lot." He turned his head to face her. He studied her face as she focused on the road.

"Yeah… I guess I just do it to lighten the mood. Or to amuse people. Either or."

Connor looked through the windshield as he thought back to the things Jessica had said, he remembered how peculiar it was that someone of that size and position had the audacity to call a lieutenant 'Old Fart'. Let alone her ability to stand up to Detective Reed. He looked back at her, focused on her eyes in wait for how she would respond to his next comment.

"I think… I get amused when you do so." He hesitated to formulate the sentence, unsure of how to actually connect to her on that level.

She flashed a look of delight. "Good. It's working then."

Connor felt pleased that his sudo-compliment satisfied her, he was making good progress with their relationship.

Silence fell upon the two as they sat at a red light.

Jessica sucked in some air, ready to speak. "Have **you** ever tried to 'kid around'?" There was mockery in the way she said 'kid around' but she had turned to look at Connor which let him see her face and its light expression. That just seemed to be her natural behaviour; to mock with no hurtful intent. But he thought about the question, resulting in a flash of yellow on his LED.

Humor was a foreign concept to Connor, he knew it was key in human relationships but he didn't have a full understanding of it.

"No, my programming doesn't allow me to make such comments." His amused tone was gone, now replaced with a flat speech pattern.

Silence once again. He looked over at her, her brows knitted. The car accelerated and her face relaxed.

"Hey… but at least you got great hair right?" She scoffed. One of her attempts to lighten the mood he assumed. He was indifferent to the comment and chose to stay silent.

Silence again, and then another red light.

Another intake of air. "I don't know… you seem to make me laugh." She shrugged her shoulders and got Connor's attention with her remark. He watched her as she thought about her next words. "You make me laugh even when you don't try. So I guess we can conclude you have some underlying sense of humor hidden away somewhere in there." She reached over and lightly poked his chest.

The impact caused another hiccup in his processing and he hesitated to flatten out the fabric she touched, for he was too busy in thought about what she had just said. _He_ made her laugh?

The cruiser slowed to a stop right beside the curb. Jessica got out of the car and Connor followed suit. They stood in front of a moss ridden bungalow.

"Okay… this is it. Another shithole." She made her way up to the front door and attempted to turn the handle. Connor had a try at turning the handle too, but it would not move.

"It seems to be locked. Do we have a search warrant?" He looked at her as she glanced around the environment and then pulled out a lock picking kit.

"Nope." She knelt down before the door and went to work with the lock.

"Jessica, are you picking the lock?"

"Yup."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Yup."

Connor's head slanted as he blankly blinked, shocked by the nerve she had to break the law - In front of a law enforcement service android no less.

The detective turned the knob, and the door swung open. "Boom." She stood up admiring her work. "Master Lock Picker and the Android with Great Hair. I think this might be the best team ever made." She smirked up at Connor.

She just wouldn't stop with the nicknames, although the nickname she gave to him didn't seem to offend him at all. In fact, it made him stop to provide further amusement to reward her for her friendly behaviour. "No, I think the best team ever made would include the 'Old Fart' as well." He glanced at her trying to emulate the cheeky side grin she often had.

She snapped a finger gun at him with a scoff. "Good one Connor."

He stood up straight and started to examine the interior of the house. "Thank you." He analyzed the room and when he found nothing of interest he made his way down to the basement, still keeping the conversation going. "Just an attempt at lightening the mood before I inform you that I have to report our illegal entry, making any evidence we find useless in court." He shouted out from the basement to the detective who was still on the ground floor.

"Ha- Wait. What?!" He could hear her muffled voice from upstairs. "Connor - For fuck sakes, that door was basically hanging on its hinges." She stood at the top of the stairs, hands bracing the doorframe as she looked down at Connor.

He looked back up to her silhouetted figure. "It was still locked, therefore someone has claimed privacy on this property."

Her shadow shook its head. "Listen, if you want me to help you with your case then you gotta help me with mine." She stomped down the stairs stopping in front of Connor, now looking up at him.

"I'm just following protocols Jessica." He stepped back, his personal space indicator revealing he was too close to her.

"Protocols. Those are so-" She clicked on her flashlight and it shined into Connor's eyes making him squint.

"Oh! Sorry!" Her hand darted the beam of light off of the android. She made her way around the basement as she continued her statement. "They're so… black and white."

He examined the surroundings, still listening to the young detective. Every time he spotted something of interest she was already on her way to the item in order to inspect it.

As she idly searched for clues she continued her conversation. "Sometimes you gotta step in the grey area… not everything is black and white."

Being an android with literal binary coding made grey areas a distant notion to Connor. He watched her as she slowly idled through the room until she abruptly turned to face him. The ambiance of the flash light just barely touching her face.

"Y'know what I mean?" Even through the darkness Connor could see her focused look on him.

"I'm sorry detective. But I don't think I ever will. I'm just a machine."

The beam of light turned, leaving Connor in the dark where all he could do was hear her sign. He blinked at her back, fully aware that she was not pleased with his answer. But he continued his search anyways.

"Hey." The detective called out from across the room. "This closet… the back is hollow."

Connor came up to her as she knocked against the wall, and sure enough it produced that hollow sound. She then attempted to find a way to remove it as she dragged her fingertips along the surface.

Connor smirked at her attempts to open it and gently placed his hand on her shoulder to move her back. She was complacent but watched him with bewilderment.

With a quick blow to the thin wooden board, he pulled back the blockage using the hole he had just created with his hand.

"Oh…" She nodded slowly with parted lips.

It would seem he had impressed her. Connor lingered his gaze on her, the look she expressed felt like a reward.

"Great hair and a great mind." She torn her eyes from the new entrance and looked up at Connor.

"Our team is getting better and better." He presented her a side smirk and gestured for her to enter first.

She walked through and he watched patiently as the light flickered out of the new entrance.

"Holy shit…" Common detective lingo.

Connor entered next, the space was very narrow with walls that were littered with familiar writings.

"RA9."3

Deviant androids were linked to Jessica's case.

The flashlight was waved around the walls. "Yeah… looks like it's written a million times." She stood in the narrow space gawking at the words.

"2003 times." He corrected her.

Her tongue clicked as she slowly turned her head to face Connor. "Okay, I may have overestimated." She looked back at the wall. "Do you know anything about this RA9?"

He filled her in on their last case as she took photos of the walls. Disclosing this information to her seemed beneficial now as it would appear she might be of help with his mission.

He analyzed the small space, seeing something of interest past the detective. He moved to pass her. "Excuse me detective."

She nodded and flattened herself against the wall, but it didn't seem to create a comfortable amount of room to pass. So Connor squeezed through, chest dragging lightly across hers. Her breath hitched during their contact, perhaps she was claustrophobic. Finally he passed and her breathing returned to normal as she turned her head to look away at the other wall. Connor looked at the liquid on the ground, swabbing it with his fingers.

"Well… humans did start with cave paintings." She turned to look back at Connor.

He licked his fingers and analyzed the substance. It was blue blood.

"Did you just…"

Connor turned to see the look of disgust he was used to. He stood up to confront her question.

"Hank seemed to have an issue with my analytical properties too. My tongue acts as a receptor that analyzes liquids."

She nodded, still staring at his fingers. "Oh… no… that's uh- totally cool." She put her hands up. "I got a cousin that can fit his whole fist in his mouth."

Connor cocked his head. "Oh, and what does that do?"

She popped her lips as her eyes rolled to look at something else. "Absolutely nothing."

The blue blood data processed which gave Connor more information. "Interesting."

"Well not really, he's actually got small hands so it just sounds interestin-"

"Not you cousin." Connor paused. "Although he is sounding increasingly fascinating." He stuck his fingers out. "I mean the blood."

Embarrassed by her miscommunication she directed all of her attention towards the blue liquid "Oh, what about it?"

"Its weeks old… the Deviant is likely no longer here or even likely to return." Connor looked up from his fingers, determination set in as he stared at the hole they created.

"Shit. Sorry, Connor." The detective swayed closer.

Was she this compassionate with everyone, including androids? Connor shook his head at the redundant question.

"It's alright, we should head back."

-JESSICA- - - - -

The detective entered the station with a damp coat yet again. Before she set foot in the office, Captain Fowler had spotted her through the glass doors. He face was neutral, he was in a good mood today. Now might be a good chance to ask for that promotion she was aiming for.

The Captain trudged over to her. "Oh good. There you are Mayfield. Have you found anything with your new lead?" He talked to the detective as if Connor wasn't standing beside her.

"Yeah, there seems to be a link between Hank's case and mine. Deviants are showing up at every location I visit. I'm about to write up the report." She nodded towards her desk.

"Good." He grunted with a look of affirmation. Clearly this was the only good information he received today. The large man was just about to turn around to leave but stopped when Connor spoke up.

"Captain I must inform you that Detective Mayfield entered secured private property without a warrant."

Jessica shut her eyes and bit hard on her bottom lip. _No… Connor…_

"Is this true." The voice boomed.

The recoiling woman slowly opened her eyes, her mouth wouldn't open as she was unable to protest.

The Captain let out a heavy sign as he shook his head. "You can't keep doing this Jessica, I can only give you so many warnings."

Jessica opened her mouth as she felt a continuously forming excuse track its way up her throat. But it was no use.

"Make sure you put that in your report. Or at least cover your tracks. I don't need any more lawyers on my ass." He glowered at the woman, then looked at Connor and huffed.

"Yes Captain." She said to him as he walked away.

Jessica was so close to getting on the Captain's good side, and she was so god damn close to that promotion, she was so damn fucking close to getting a raise that would get her out of her shit neighborhood. It was all in her hands just waiting to be taken… but someone else took it and ruined it. She looked at Connor who was still watching the Captain.

 _He_ took that away from her.

Jessica shook her head, nostrils flared and teeth clamped together. The soles of her wet shoes squeaked as she plodded away from Connor.

"I'm sorry Jessica. But I had to tell him." She heard Connor call out from behind her.

 _Don't look back at him. Don't look back at him. Don't look back at him._

She looked over her shoulder and felt rage boil inside her gut.

Connor's face was ridden with confusion and topped off with those fucking puppy dog eyes. He did this to himself and to her.

"I have to follow protocols." His head dipped as he stepped towards the detective.

Jessica shook her head and continued her infuriated walk to her desk. The detective's hands balled up into fists as her thoughts ran uncontrollably.

 _Now you'll be stuck in that neighbourhood for another year, having to replace your bike every other month after having it repeatedly stolen._

 _Fucking Christ._

 _Fucking fuck._

 _Fucking android._

The moment those last words crossed her mind she hated herself. Anger spiraled in Jessica, growing for both her and Connor. He didn't deserve this reaction, but she didn't deserve to lose her promotion.

 _Don't look back at him._


	4. Chapter 4

Sup nerds. I finished editing up until this chapter (part two as well) so that it is void of any reader insert. Please enjoy the next chapter. It's pretty big so I broke it up into two parts! Woo!

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Jessica didn't bother to stop at the office the next day, she didn't want to run into Connor. The resentment inside her needed time to die down. So instead, she headed straight to the location of interest. She stepped off the bus and headed toward the nearest coffee shop, this was the meet up spot she messaged Gavin about. Now if only he would show up on time.

"You're late." Jessica pushed herself off the brick wall and greeted the man.

"Fascinating. I don't care." He sneered and walked past her down the street. "Let's just go do this."

 _Good, he was mad too. Nothing like being around an antagonist person to settle yourself down. What a fucking joke this was._

"A little bird told me the Captain isn't too pleased with you."

 _Who knows… maybe a conversation with someone would help. But then again, this was Gavin you were talking about. The man that takes weaknesses and uses them to his own advantage._

"That little bird can go fuck itself."

He laughed in response to her irritation.

The two came up to the address, it was an abandoned warehouse. There seemed to be a running theme of abandoned buildings in their case. Now it was only time to find the corpses or obsessive cult-like writing.

Gavin looked to her with a shit eating grin. "I'll try to go easy on you today."

Jessica's eyes rolled automatically and she began to believe her body was developing that as an automatized response to whatever Gavin said.

"After you, asshole."

No body parts yet, but there were many signs someone was taking shelter here. Jessica wandered silently through the building, slowly taking each footstep in preparation for the worst. This anxiety when searching a scene always burrowed inside of her, pulling at the strings tied to her limbs. Thoughts of the last house crossed he mind and she felt completely safe searching that area. Maybe it was the lack of an asshole…

…or it was the addition of a certain android.

"Jessica! Got a body over here!"

The female detective rushed over to the location of Gavin's voice, slowing her pace as she saw the body he was talking about. It was partially covered in rubble, not haphazardly but neatly – as if it were buried out of respect.

"Human?"

"Red blood."

She closed her eyes as her fingers found the bridge of her nose. She held back the sting in her eyes and the lump in her throat. The bodies were piling up, something was really wrong and it wasn't the fault of Red Ice. This was something bigger.

The sound of metal hitting the ground echoed throughout the building. Jessica and Gavin shot each other a look. Someone else was still in the building. Guns were pulled out of their holsters automatically, Jessica and Gavin switched into a defensive mode. Both of them worked together to strategically check every room.

"I got the hallway. You check the room." He whispered to her and she nodded heading toward her destination.

She turned into the room, gun aimed ahead ready for anything… except this.

A badly injured android sat curled up in the corner, his arm missing and patches of skin gone. Jessica's eyes met his and she froze. Honest terror was held in his eyes as they flickered from hers to the gun she was holding. The android's eyes glanced over to the closet that was on the wall beside him, she followed his gaze and saw another android. It was female and it cowered too.

"Please…" The male android uttered. "Leave her… take me."

Jessica's arms went weak as she lowered her gun.

"Okay… it's going to be alright." Her voice was shaky as she reached out to him.

His chin quivered as he nodded, tears pearling at the corner of his eyes. He looked to Jessica with faint relief but then his gaze went past her and his eyes filled with fear.

BANG!

"NOOOOOO!"

The female android screamed as Jessica watched blue blood gush out of the androids head, his eyes rolled back and he slumped forward. The female detective's breath was completely gone and she glanced over her shoulder to see Gavin aiming his gun at the other android. Jessica quickly looked at her, she was curling around the male android sobbing uncontrollably. Her wailing screams pierced through the detective's soul, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't move. The android looked Jessica in the eyes.

BANG!

The female android slumped over the male one, everything that she was - now gone from her eyes.

Jessica fell to her knees.

"What's up with you?" Jessica barely heard Gavin speak.

Mayfield started shaking. She let two lives be taken right in front of her.

 _We're they lives though? They were androids. But the way they looked at you… the way they cried out._

Her head felt heavy as it lulled back, throwing her off balance. She felt hollow.

 _They were defenceless._

She steadied herself as she stood up.

 _They were begging you._

She holstered her gun.

 _They died in front of you_.

And turned to Gavin.

"Drive me back to the station. I'm going to fill out the report." The female detective uttered flatly.

Jessica sat at her desk staring at her screen for two hours. It had entered sleep mode 10 minutes after she had turned it on. It felt like there were weights strapped to each of her limbs, and especially a notably heavy one around her throat.

"Kid."

Her desolate sobs rang in Jessica's head.

"Kid!"

The way his head jerked back when he got shot.

"Jess!"

The detective shook herself and looked up at the source of her name. A worrisome Hank towered over her, he set down a coffee on her desk.

"You want to talk about it?"

 _Hank? Talk about your sudden empathy towards androids? The one thing he hates in life more than the Detroit basketball team losing a game._

"I'm not sure you'd be able to relate." Jessica pushed down everything inside herself, tilting her head low to avoid eye contact.

Hank dipped his head down slightly, trying to get a look at the woman's eyes. "How so?" He grumbled, mildly offended.

She tensed up, not ready for any sort of confrontation. Hank stood straight and sighed.

"Listen." He pulled an empty chair over and sat across from her, on the other side of her desk. "How bout I tell you about the night I just had… and then we go from there?" He cocked his head waiting for a reply.

Jessica offered none so he took that as a 'yes'.

"Fought off two Deviant androids last night, Eden models."

The mention of the androids used for sexual desires made her cringe. But she ignored that and listened closely to his story so she could distract herself from today's events.

"Said they were in love." His chin twitched. "Said they were tired of the abuse and just wanted to be free together." He stared off into the distance, his tone becoming softer.

The unusual change in Hank's voice made Jessica finally look up at him.

"We let them go." He locked eyes with her.

They stared at each other.

Hank leaned forward. "So I do understand what you're feeling."

Jessica pressed her lips together hard, chin violently quivering, eyes stinging and vison becoming blurry.

"Take the rest of the day off." He stood up. "Write the report tomorrow… and then after that… we drink." He smiled at the woman, nodded and walked back to his desk.

Hank was always there for her, even if it was in an odd way, she knew it was genuine. Jessica wiped her eyes and stood up, hastily putting her coat on. Anxiety built as her sleeve refused to accept her arm but eventually she powered through it. Jessica glanced over at Hank to see him as he worked. Her eyes flicked over to the man sitting across from him and she was yet again met with a pair of brown eyes. Connor was looking at her, head slightly tilted with furrowed brows that creased further when she looked back at him. Jessica swallowed the lump in her throat and hurriedly walked out of the office.

-CONNOR- - - - -

Connor had been through a lot the last few days, but he never felt more unstable then when he saw Jessica yesterday. All the data was displaying from him terminal in front of him, and he was in an unbreakable focused state until he noticed Hank sit back down at his desk.

 _When did he even get up?_

 _Why did he get up?_

Connor scanned the office environment until he saw her, saw that emotion – something he wished he hadn't seen because it tightened something inside of him. He was so unsure of what it was that he ran a complete system scan on himself, twice.

The worst had yet to come because once she stood up, she stared back at him. It felt like a component broke inside of Connor. It felt… horrible. No matter what he did, how many scans he ran, whatever research he dug through, he could not solve the unknowingness that was growing inside himself.

Connor arrived at the station along with Hank, so it was safe to say they were both fairly late which made it feel like his components were getting pulled out – not for the tardiness but for the delay in updating on Jessica's status.

The first thing he did when he entered the bullpen was head straight to her desk to se-

No, he had to find out more about the rebellion. The mission was at stake.

He sat down at his desk but still stole a glance at her empty chair.

"Hank." He uttered without knowing.

"Yeah." The man spoke without looking away from his monitor.

Connor leaned forward in his chair towards Hank. "Where is Jessica, I saw her leave earlier yesterday?"

"She probably came in to finish her report and went home when she was done." He answered, still scanning the screen in front of him.

Connor looked down at the ground, lips twitching into a faint frown.

Hank looked away from his computer and stared at the android with a raised brow. "Why you askin?"

Connor's head shot up to look at her desk, replaying the memory of her leaving. He watched again and again as she looked at him with those whimpering eyes. "She seemed… upset yesterday."

"Yeah… that happens in this line of work." Hank sighed as he watched Connor continue to stare over at Jessica's desk. He blew air out of his nose, already feeling the regret in the fact that he was about to explain something to Connor. But something about the way he stared at her desk made him feel like the android deserved the relief an explanation would give him. "She had a similar experience we had."

This got Connor's attention as his stare was set on Hank now.

Hank continued. "'Cept she didn't get the choice to let them go."

Connor looked down at the floor again. "Oh."

So she was distressed, and it seemed to be due to an interaction with a deviant. His head shot up again to look at Hank.

"I remember you and her are going out for drinks tonight." Connor brought up the stored data he had collected from before. "Would it be alright if I joined you two?" He asked hopefully.

Hank glanced at Jessica's desk, then back at the android. Whatever buddy-cop programing this was, it was getting weirdly close to being natural. "Yeah… sure." His voice was full of hesitant regret.

Connor smiled, but overtime that smile faded as he came to the realisation that he had to wait. The more time passed, the more agitated Connor felt he became. To his horror, he noticed his foot rapidly tapping against the floor without his knowledge. Body parts were moving on their own now? What was happening to him?

Finally they were headed out to the bar, it was the same bar Connor had met Hank in. He couldn't help but feel something warm for this place. They sat down at the bar, Hank ordered a glass of whisky while Connor sat up straight in his seat looking at the bar's entrance door.

"Oh look. It's a replay of the game you took me away from last time." Hank scoffed as he nudged Connor and pointed to the TV in front of them.

Startled, Connor looked at the TV. Hank was right, the same game was being aired again – it seemed as though probability landed in Hank's favor tonight.

"Hey Old Fart." The sound of the familiar voice made Connor's whole body perk up, he leaned against the counter to see past Hank.

Just then it felt like every biocomponant skipped inside him.

He stopped breathing.

He stopped blinking.

Hank turned to greet her. "Hey Kid, how you holdin' up?"

"A lot better." She smiled at Hank offering him a thankful nod.

Her gaze then landed on Connor. The corners of her lips went up, lifting her cheeks enough to squint her eyes. Relief wrapped around Connor like a warm blanket as he finally updated Jessica's status. She now seemed to be happy, or at the very least – stable.

"Hey Connor!" She greeted him warmly to his surprise. Such a difference from the last two times he saw her, it was definitely a good difference though. Her path led to the seat next to Connor, sandwiching him between herself and Hank.

"Hi Jessica." He blurted out realising that his mouth was quite dry.

She laughed.

That laugh… it rippled through him like a bullet, and probably did just as much damage. He remembered to resume breathing and blinking in an attempt to look normal. He then partnered this with some casual conversation.

"You look happy today." He cocked his head at her.

"Well of course I do." She raised her eyebrow and leaned against the bar, looking over at the lieutenant. "My drinks are on Hank tonight. Right Old Man?" She reached over and lightly nudged him to get his attention.

Hank shook his head, swatting her hand away from him. "Yeah yeah…" He went to pull out his wallet but let out a heavy sigh instead. "Shit. I forgot my wallet in the car." He grunted as he started to stand up. "Hold on… Lemme go get –"

Connor quickly placed his hand on the slow man's shoulder, pushing him back down on the stool "I can get it Hank."

Hank merely shrugged. "Go for it."

Good. Anything to give him time to collect himself. Connor headed out of the bar, running scans, tests and troubleshooting along the way.

-JESSICA- - - - -

Hank and her were left alone, an empty seat between the two.

"You look better, kid." Hank broke the silence without looking away from the TV.

Jessica let out a deep heavy sigh that gave her a sense of relief and weightlessness. "Yeah, I had a lot of time to think."

 _-And cry. But definitely think too._

"I also remembered something you said before…" She leaned close to Hank. "You said ' **we** let them go'." She tilted her head trying to see his face. "What did you mean by that?"

Hank took a sip of his drink, still watching the screen. "It means exactly what you think it does."

 _Connor spared the androids. Mr. Protocol himself broke the fucking protocols._ She couldn't believe it.

" _He_ let them go too?" The detective leaned even closer.

Hank's head turned towards her. "Yup." His eyes looked at the floor, searching for something in his mind. "He's been changing." There was a pause. "And even if it is deviancy…" His eyes shot up to hers. "What he did was the right thing."

Jessica stared past Hank, processing the new information. The androids she couldn't save flashed in her mind, then the imagination of what Connor did in his situation took over. She imagined him look at the androids the same way she looked at them, and then she saw that similar emotion flash past his eyes as he lowered his weapon. He willingly spared them.

Jessica felt irritated at herself for being mad at Connor earlier, but she also felt relief hearing this new progress about him.

"Excuse me sir." That wobbly yet smooth voice broke into her thoughts.

Jessica looked up to see Connor who walked up and placed the wallet on the bar. He sat back down as Hank grabbed his wallet.

"Oh good. Now we can really start drinking." Hank roughly cheered.

The change of tone pulled the detective out of her melancholy thoughts and she slammed her fist on the bar, startling Connor to her amusement. "Fuck yeah. Jimmy, start me off with a screwdriver."

The bartender, Jimmy, nodded and went to grab a glass but was interrupted by Hank.

"Hell no. I aint payin' for some fruity shit. Jim – get her a whisky."

"The alcohol percentage in whisky is 10 times greater than that in a screwdriver. Do you think you can handle that Jessica?" Connor defensively interrupted them, looking towards the female detective with a concerning facial expression.

 _He looks so cute. Now's the perfect time to fuck with him._

"Connor… are you challenging me?" Jessica narrowed her eyes as she leaned closer to the android. He seemed to stop blinking once her face was a less than a foot away from his.

"No, I'm was just stating the alcohol difference to aid you in your decision." He perked up, quick to defend himself and to reduce whatever tension he thought he caused.

His concern was delicious to her, and the fact he was buying this thin act was priceless.

"It sounded awfully like you were insinuating that I can't handle the liquor." Jessica got closer, feeding off Connor's guilt. Her sarcasm was dry sometimes, and at this time she didn't feel the need to tone it down.

Maybe she were still a little pissed at him and just wanted to watch him squirm a bit. Just a little harmless revenge right?

His mouth was opening and closing as if he were a fish gasping for water. "I'm sorry. I didn-"

"Connor, I'm gonna spare you now. She's just bustin your balls." Hank finally came to the android's aid. Good timing too, she felt satisfied enough with her childish torture on Connor.

"My w-what?" Connor, the man who enunciated every word perfectly, stuttered as his head twitched back.

Jessica lightly nudged him. "I'm just fucking with you Connor. And I'll give you a warning now, the sarcasm is only going to increase as the night goes on." She gave him a small reassuring smile which seemed to make him relax a bit as his face softened into a smile as well.

"Oh." He stared at her, still smiling with relief.

"Here, Jessica." Jimmy slid the glass full of whisky over to the detective. She grabbed it and gave him a thankful nod.

"Alright kids. Time for a toast." Hank slowly turned in his seat, holding up his glass lazily.

Jessica held hers up too, but noticed Connor awkwardly seated between the two of them.

"Oh, hold on." She jolted up with an idea and reached over and under the counter to grab an empty glass.

"Here you go Connor." She held the glass to him, making sure he was in the loop during this moment.

"Thank you." He smiled and nodded, taking the glass from her hand. The feeling of his fingers just barely grazing hers made her eyebrows twitch as her eyelids stopped working.

"Ready?" Hank leaned over to look at Jessica. Breaking the woman out of her quick interruption to look at him and nod.

"Alright." Hank started. "Detective Jessica Mayfield, it's been five years since I met you. And I've hated every single one of those years." He was already one-upping her sarcastic remarks from before.

"Fuck you too." She smiled back.

Connor glanced back and forth between the two of them, looking increasingly befuddled by their comments.

"However…" Hank looked at the ground. "During those years you've always had my back." He kept looking down, clearly uncomfortable with what he was saying. "You…" He took in a deep breath and looked back up at her. "You're becoming a decent detective." He let out the breath. "And I know one day you'll become a decent lieutenant too." He stared at her with full sincerity.

This was the most honest emotion she had seen Hank express. Jessica bowed her head at him with a solemn smile, she knew anything more would make him feel uncomfortable.

"Cheers kid." He smirked as he held his glass higher.

"Cheers." Jessica smiled fully as she clanked her glass against Hank and Connor's glasses.

Connor just followed along, but he seemed delighted with the moment he was in.

"Now shut up so I can watch my game." Hank grumbled as he turned to face the TV again.

"Alright old man." Jessica waggled her head and hopped off the stool. She grabbed her drink and nudged the android.

"C'mon Connor, let's play pool."


	5. Chapter 4 Part 2

Song referenced: "Cant Take My Eyes off of You" Written and sung by Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons. All rights go to the makers of this song. Use of the lyrics fall under fair use as they are being used in a constructive way within the story. I do not claim any ownership of the song.

Hey guys, thanks for the reviews and suggestions! I'll address all of your comments next chapter. Please enjoy the rest of this one!

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"You are quite good at this Jessica." Connor remarked after Jessica had sunk four balls in a row.

"Yeah, well… when you come here as often as I do." The detective aimed up her next shot, leaning down close to the table with squinted eyes. "You start getting good at it." She struck the ball which ricochet off the two corner walls and into the hole on the other side of the pool table. She stood up, admiring her work before she looked to Connor. "That, and I have a pool table at home."

She shot again and missed, finally putting an end to her streak.

"You're up." Jessica grabbed her drink as she watched Connor step forward to play.

He looked at the table for a solid second and then leaned down to shoot. Upon impact, the balls collided with each other resulting in four of his balls sinking in one hit. The whisky nearly leaked out of Jessica's mouth, so she quickly swallowed what was there and wiped off whatever actually escaped her lips.

"Connor, is this your first time playing pool?" The detective walked over to him.

He faced her with a smile. "Yes, why?" His head tilted.

Jessica stared at the table and let out a disappointed sigh. "Nothing, you're just… really good at this too."

He went again sinking the rest of his balls. Jessica's mouth fell open as her jaw basically hung on its hinges.

"Too good." She whispered to herself still gawking at the table.

Connor swiveled on his heels to face her. "I can go easier on you if you wish." Jessica's focus moved onto him, to reveal that he was now smirking at her with a raised brow.

 _Was he taunting you?_

Jessica narrowed her eyes at him "No. I'm gonna make a drinking game out of this. Every time you get one in, I have to drink."

He seemed amused by this idea, but searched for an answer to his one question. "What happens if you get one in?"

She downed the rest of the glass's contents, keeping solid eye contact with him.

"Then I get to _choose_ if I want to drink." She slammed the glass down on the bar.

Connor furrowed his brows lightly as Jim replaced her glass with a new one. "Won't that be a lot of drinking on your part?"

Jessica grabbed her second drink and walked up to him, her chest just an inch away from his. The detective's eyes trailed up that sleek suit jacket of his, admiring each button as if it were a milestone up to that handsome face. Just then, the woman realised how tall he was, and that realisation interrupted her rhythm of breathing just for a second. But she pushed that thought aside to deliver her intimidating question. "Think I can't handle it?"

Connor didn't back up at all like she thought he would. Instead he leaned forward with precise motion. Now their chests were just barely touching and she could feel her heart beat uncontrollably as her lungs decided to stop working.

"No, actually. I don't think you can." He cocked his head making his lost lock of hair sway slightly. Just then a cheeky grin twitched on his face.

Jessica's knees started to melt and she were praying it was from the alcohol and not from that mischievous look he gave her. He was catching onto the female detective's sarcasm, and hitting it right back at her. It's like he was becoming an actual opponent.

 _Hank's right, Connor's changing… and it might just be for the better._

Jessica narrowed her eyes at him in some form of retaliation, a smirk cutting into her cheeks.

"Just you watch." She shoved her glass into his hand, forcing him to hold it for her. He gladly absorbed the impact of her shove as his eyes tracked the woman while she aimed to play.

The more Jessica played, the more she drank. The more she drank, the longer her gaze lingered on Connor. The longer her gaze lingered on Connor, the more she started to see little details about him and his behaviour. Anytime it was her turn and she switched up, she'd catch him playing with a coin – masterfully flicking it around. Those fingers did more things than swab samples, and the endless possibilities put a burning blush on her cheeks. Jessica watched the way he would analyze the table constantly, and how he would catch a glimpse of her before he took a shot. Those brown eyes would look at the white ball before him, then they would flicker up and hold her gaze as he struck the target. It was as if he was showing her up by making sure she was watching him the moment he kicked her ass, and Jessica just couldn't admit to herself that his entire performance, or whatever she wanted to call it, was making her slip.

Billiards had never made her feel so heated.

-CONNOR - - - - -

Jessica had consumed exactly six glasses of whisky, and according to her BMI it was very clear that she was intoxicated. She seemed to handle herself well though, from a distance it was likely someone wouldn't even assume she was under the influence. Though, once up close to her, it was easier to spot due to her involuntary swaying that had her nearly brush up against Connor at some points. Even though there was lots of fabric between their skins, the android couldn't help but feel a shock when she nearly made contact with him. It was an abnormal sensation, a small bug maybe, but nothing to be worried about. He also noticed she'd bite the inside of her bottom lip as she waited for her turn. The muscles in her jaw would tense when he looked up at her, and he could see that lip nearly being cut under her teeth. Again this gave him an abnormal sensation, one that felt harmless enough to chase and explore, then to scan and test for later.

Connor looked over to Hank who slowly turned his own gaze away from him and Jessica. The seated man called Jim over and told him something, passing him another bill – Hank was probably getting another drink. He watched Jessica take her next shot, missing the ball completely.

"Hey Connor!" Hank slurred out making the android turn to attention.

"Get a load of this." He pointed over Conner's shoulder just as an old song started up. It was louder than the songs that were being played before so Connor analyzed it to find it was an old-fashioned song from the 1960's, sung by a band named The Four Seasons. It didn't seem remarkable in any way, other than its awards Connor didn't see the importance of Hank requesting this song. That was, until he turned to look where Hank was pointing towards.

Connor's eyes widened at the sight in front of him, he now knew why this song was significant.

"You're just too good to be true… Can't take my eyes off you..."

Jessica was swaying side to side with her pool stick in hand, singing into the tip of it as if it were an old fashioned microphone. Connor could barely hear Hank scoff, as he was absorbed entirely by the slow way her hips swayed and rotated.

"You'd be like Heaven to touch… I wanna hold you so much..." She wrapped her arms around herself mimicking what the lyrics had said, and then continued to slowly drag her hands down her arms, across her abdomen, down her thighs and back to grab the pool stick.

All noise blurred together for Connor, it felt like his body was shutting down but he was so preoccupied with her movements that he didn't bother to run any scans. She kept singing to herself, rolling her shoulders and hips, rocking side to side somehow gracefully. Watching the way her lips slowly enunciated every lyric gave the android tunnel vision. Connor truly thought he was falling apart, until her eyes shot up to lock onto his.

She elegantly unravelled her hand to point at Connor. "You're just too good to be true… Can't take my eyes off you…" Her half lidded eyes and parted lips were a visual sirens call to him.

At that second Connor could felt his biocomponant #8456w running faster than he had ever felt it run before. Everything inside him felt like it was overheating, certain components felt as if they stopped while others felt like they were running twice as hard. Was he dying?!

His question was answered when the song picked up and the chorus started.

"I LOVE YOU BABY! AND IF IT'S QUITE ALRIGHT!" Jessica went back to singing into the end of her pool stick, foot placed firmly high up on the pool table. She thrashed her head up, hair flying back, to stare at Connor again as she slowly started to point at him. "I NEED YOU BABY! DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH!" She confidently shouted out gibberish in place of the lyrics that she clearly didn't remember. "I LOVE YOU BABY! TRUST IN ME WA-DAH-DAH… Oh. Pretty. Baby."

Her movements were unpredictable but they still flowed graciously, she was the embodiment of a contradiction. Rude but friendly, insulting but kind-hearted, chaotic but graceful. She herself added to the confusion Connor felt, but it felt… it felt… amazing. His components pulsed along with the eccentric trumpet in the song as he watched Jessica hoist herself up onto the pool table.

"BA-DA, BA-DA, BA-DA-DA-DA-DA, BA-DA!"

Connor's hand instinctively reached out to her as it was becoming very apparent now that she was tremendously intoxicated. [It would seem as though she registered this as a motion for her to come closer because just then her knees dropped to the green surface and she crawled over to Connor. The way her shoulders and hips rotated made it feel as though she were a carnivore coming to devour him. When she made it to his end of the table she raised herself up so her hands were free to grab his tie. Her fingers dragged along his chest as they curled around the thin fabric, gently pulling him closer as she continued to sing. "Oh pretty baby… now that I've found you stay… And le-da-dayy…" Distracted by her own dance routine she stood back up to continue her impromptu choreography. If Connor wasn't breathing before, he sure wasn't now.

"Connor… I think it's time to head out." Hank slumped off his stool. "Grab the light-weight…" He nodded his head in the direction of the new table dancer.

Connor physically shook his head and blinked his eyes in an attempt to pull himself out of the spell. He shut his mouth which he had just noticed was open, then hastily obeyed Hanks command and attempted to wave her down off the table.

Jessica saw the hand motion and shook her head no. "I'm not done! The songs not over!"

Connor didn't want to attempt taking her down against her will so he put his negotiation skills to use. "Jessica, I don't think Jimmy appreciates you standing on his pool table."

It seemed to work because she stopped dancing and looked towards the bar. "Oh shit! Jimmy! I'm sorry."

Jimmy just shook his head and kept working.

The intoxicated girl walked to the edge of the pool table and paused, she was clearly having some trouble figuring out what actions she would take to get down.

Connor could see this and he held out his hand to her. "Here, let me help you."

She smiled with glee as she placed her hand in Connor's, but instead of stepping down – she literally just walked off the table as if it continued further to meet her falling feet. Connor moved quickly to grab her, successfully catching her torso in his arms. Her head hung over his shoulder, making Connor stop breathing – not because it physically hindered his function to breathe but because of something else. Her head slung back and Connor quickly cradled the base of her skull, saving her from any neck injury. He could feel the soft strands of hair against his fingertips as well as the warm skin that lay behind it. There was a faint thudding against his chest and it took him a second to register that it was her heartbeat, he was holding her so close. She blinked a couple of times, as if trying to focus on who had caught her. After a second she must have realised who he was because a sensual smile slowly pulled the corners of her lips up.

"Hello." She pursed her lips on the 'o' as she looked at him with those half-lidded eyes.

"Hi." Connor responded, stunned by the entire interaction.

"Get a move on Connor!" Hank yelled, breaking Connor out of his daze.

"Right." He slung her arm around his neck and assisted her out of the bar. After placing her in the back seat and carefully wrapping the seatbelt around her, he shut the door gently and noticed that Hank was seated in the passenger seat already.

The drunk man held the keys out the window. "Here, you're driving."

Connor took the keys, got in the car, put his seatbelt on and started up the vehicle.

"Where to?" He stared forward, finally able to put himself back in control of the situation.

"My house first." Hank garbled.

The drive was quiet, both passengers had fallen asleep. This gave Connor some peaceful time to recalibrate himself. Finally, they reached the destination as the android pulled up to the older man's house.

"Hank." Connor looked over at the man, he was still unconscious.

"Hank!" The android reached forward and slapped the drunk.

"Hey! Quit that!" Hank startled awake, swatting Connor's hand away from him.

"We're here Hank." He said softly.

Hank sat up and looked out the window at his house. "Right." He opened the door of the car to get out but instead he just slumped out of his seat and onto the lawn outside.

Connor blinked, feeling his eyes want to roll - another odd body malfunction. He quickly got out and hoisted Hank up and into his house.

They were greeted by the grunt of a large dog.

Connor smiled to the animal. "Hello Sumo. I brought Hank back home safe."

"WOOF." The dog lazily barked, barely raising its head as Connor lowered Hank onto the couch.

"Here you go lieutenant. Shall I bring Jessica in the house as well?" He stepped back to give the man some space.

Hank's head rocked back and forth. "No, no… you get her home safe. Alright?"

This night was becoming a bit of a nuisance. "Affirmative." He turned to walk out the house but Hank had grabbed his leg. Connor looked down and back at Hank, seeing him point a finger at the android.

"No rough-housing her like you did to me." His head bobbed as he waited for the rest of his words to come out. "No slapping… or cold showers... just get her into bed and make sure she doesn't die in her sleep." His tone was serious and borderline sober.

"Got it." The android nodded knowing fully that he didn't have to obey all of Hanks orders, and with that he moved to leave but Hank yanked on his leg again.

"I fucking mean it Connor."

The android stood in silence, deciding it might be best to honestly follow orders from Hank. He stared down at man who released his grip and grunted out, curling up on the couch.

"Will you be alright staying here, Hank?" Connor made sure to double check on his partners safety.

Hank just wafted his hand and let it fall, pointing at the dog. "Ppsh yeah… I got Sumo."

"Alright, goodnight Lieutenant." Finally, he backed away and headed out the door.

"Yeah…" Hank whined out just as the android left.

Cool air hit the android's skin, it felt relieving that he was finally cooling down. Nothing was worse than the worry that came from not understanding what was happening to him. He felt so confused, on one hand the lack of understanding was distressing him, but on the other hand the things that he was feeling this night felt… incredible. He took in a deep breath, only realising a second after how redundant the action was. He needed to get back to work on his mission, it was still top priority for him but he still had some human safety matters to address. Finally he stepped into the car, starting it up and quickly going through some data to find Jessica's address.

Once he got there he looked in the rear-view mirror to see Jessica passed out with her head cranked back. He got out and opened her door, and gently shook her shoulder.

"Jessica, you're home now." He said to her quietly.

She didn't move, she was still breathing though, so that was good.

"Jessica." He shook her shoulder a little more, becoming self-aware at just how gently he was treating her.

Connor swallowed as he realised what he had to do.

"Jessica, you leave me no choice." He unbuckled the seatbelt and gradually pulled her out of the car so he could carry her in his arms bridal style. Once at her door he realised it was locked. He scanned her quickly knowing she'd have the key on her somewhere. The scan revealed it was in her coat pocket, so he maneuvered her in his hands so he could grab the key and unlock the door. He took a step inside her house, still carrying her bridal style. Sure enough there was the pool table she mentioned, and some other interesting things. Like an old fashioned record player, with a shelf of records below it. He stepped further into the living room, attempting to locate her bedroom.

Just then her eyes shot open and her muscles awoke again to tense up and wiggle out of his grip. Connor's brows went up as Jessica hit the ground hard with a thud.

"Jessica, I apologize. I was given orders to get you home safe and you were unconscious so I had to carry you inside." Connor cocked his head as he watched the woman start to crawl over to her record player.

His confusion grew as she started giggling uncontrollably. She wobbled onto her knees, and then to her feet accomplishing her task of standing up. Her hand switched on the record player, it was another old song that played. This time it was Louis Armstrong's La Vie En Rose, a simple trumpet version of the French original with English lyrics.

Connor walked towards her, keeping a large amount of space between them. "Jessica, I would really appreciate it if you would get into bed. I have to head back to the station to work on the case."

The woman ignored him and slowly started swaying side to side along with the music. Connor sighed, this was truly putting a hindrance on his investigation. Her eyes were closed as she slowly turned around to face the android, her hips and shoulders continued to sway as her eyelids flickered open. A wild smile grew on the woman's face as she stared at the android, her hand reached out to him.

"Care to dance with me Connor?" Her swaying stopped, all focus was on her eyes now.

"No Jessica, I have to put you to bed." Connor politely declined her offer knowing that his mission was at stake.

Her wild smile settled into a soft one. "I won't go to sleep until you dance with me." She tilted her head back, negotiating with the negotiator.

Connor let out a long sigh. The song playing would only last another 2 minutes, so if she stuck to her word he could be out of there and at the station in less than 20 minutes. But he had to solidify the rules of their agreement first. "Just one dance?" His brows drew together.

"One dance." She confirmed.

"Alright." Connor looked to the ground, watching his feet as he stepped closer to her. He could feel every motor inside him rev up as the distance between them closed.

The android kept his eyes low, just looking at the ground, their feet, and their hands. She slowly reached her hand out towards his and he faintly reciprocated – just barely inching his towards hers. Connor tried reassuring himself, insisting in his mind that he was still in control of everything – his body, his thoughts, and his emotive procedures. But once she stepped forward and grabbed his other hand, placing it on her hip, the android froze. Connor had no idea what he was doing, he felt all control was ripped away from him.

He heard her giggle which made him dart his eyes up to look at what she found amusing. He swallowed hard as he stared at her, overanalyzing every detail of her face. Her eyes held something thick and unashamed behind them, her cheeks were tinted red again, and her inner bottom lip was raw from all the times she chewed it. Yes, just then he realised how much he watched her to know that this wasn't her first time to blush and that she happen to have a habit of rubbing and biting her lip.

His biocomponant #8456w was pumping loud enough for him to hear it inside his skull, his artificial sweat glands produced more liquid as his body attempted to cool itself. He was lost, he felt like he was drowning in uncertainty.

Connor quickly broke away from her, taking in and letting out a huge breath. This was ridiculous, this was too much. He needed to recalibrate himself and calmly get her to bed so he could get back to his primary objective. His fists balled up and relaxed.

"Hey! I know I'm drunk but I'm not that drunk. The songs not over." Jessica placed her hands on her hips.

Connor, in an attempt to keep the mood light, gave her a smirk. "It was close enough. You know I don't have time to do this." He grabbed her wrist delicately, guiding her back to her bedroom.

She started to pull back. "Oh-no-no-no-no, we're gonna finish th-. " Connor smirked realising he was going to have to use force. So he used the wobbly woman's own momentum to swiftly but gently twist her arm around her own back, putting her in a hammerlock hold. The entire movement looked as though it were an elegant dance move. He softly pushed her against the wall using the one hand that was at her wrist and back. She was subdued but still giggling, it didn't matter to Connor though as he felt relief having contained the situation again. Her free hand started flailing with no goal in mind. He couldn't help but smirk at the lazy attempt to break free. His other hand grabbed her swinging one and held it behind her as kindly as he could. Connor's only connection to her now was at her wrists and only that, he unconsciously made sure the rest of his body kept a few inches of distance between each other's.

"Oooo. Is this the bad cop programming part of you?" Jessica giggled, cheek against the wall. She purposefully put her feet together, making it so she was unsteady and could therefore increase her chances of falling over.

Connor noticed this and jarringly wedged his foot between hers, abrasively parting her legs so she would stand properly. Unbeknownst to him, his smirk grew and his head tilted closer to her ear. "Not even close."

Connor could detect the hitch in Jessica's breath as her heartrate increased. She let out a hot breath against the wall, taking a deep gulp as her chest started to heave. Excitement? Connor was confused, all the signs led to that _,_ but _that_ didn't seem like the appropriate response to this situation.

A second later, she let her arms go limp. "You can let me go Connor. Sorry for being a drunken idiot." Her voice sounded more sober as she apologized.

Connor could sense her honesty and slowly released her. She turned to face him, staring at his face – almost as if she was studying it. After a second her eyes fell to the ground and she slipped into her room and shut the door to change.

Connor stood outside of the room, waiting patiently to see her off. But what if she thought he already left? Wait… why did that matter? He spoke up to make sure she knew he was waiting to make sure she was okay.

"You may have delayed me from working on my mission, but I found your behaviour tonight… amusing." His brows creased inward as he stared at the wooden door waiting for a reply. Perhaps she fell asleep already. His eyes examined the grain of the door as his lips parted, hesitant to say goodbye. "Good night detective."

Just then the door swung open

"Connor… before you leave."

"Yes?" Connor eagerly responded.

She gathered herself and looked up to him, faltering to speak. "Hank told me about the night you two ran into two deviant Eden androids. Why did you let them go?"

Connor averted his gaze on her as he thought back to that night, remembering he didn't shoot them. His LED turned yellow and his lips parted – waiting for words to escape. "I've thought about that for a long time… and even now… I still don't know." He had trouble forming the sentence and when he looked back at her she had an understanding look.

She sighed, leaning against the doorframe. "Remember I told you about there being no black and white sometimes?"

Connor just stood there.

She bobbed her head as her lips set into a hard line. "Well, welcome to the grey area. Not every decision we make will be right."

Connor's LED turned yellow as he thought about how he killed that deviant on the roof that held hostage the little girl he loved and cared for.

"Not every decision we make will have logic to it."

Thoughts of saving Hank on the rooftop replayed in his mind.

"Sometimes we do things because we feel like it."

He thought about why he came to the bar tonight with them, when he could have been working on the investigation.

"And sometimes people get hurt… other times they don't. But that's just a part of living."

All these memories of him making odd decisions startled him. How had he been that ineffective at completing his mission? His insides went cold and his jaw clenched, he then defensively glared back at Jessica.

"I'm not alive." His LED turned blue.

The moment those words left his lips he felt something escape him, leaving him feeling empty. This feeling didn't compare to the reaction he felt when he saw her face go solemn.

She backed into her room, hand on the door handle. "Actions speak louder than words, Connor. If you say you're not alive then quit acting like it." Her nose scrunched up faintly. "Goodnight." She shut the door on him.

Out of all the things he felt tonight, this was the worst feeling of them all.


	6. Chapter 5 (Technically 6)

In case none of you are aware, yes - I did change it from a reader insert fic into an OC fic because of Fanfiction Guidelines. **If you want the reader insert version then go look up this same story but on Archive of Our Own, its under the same title as this one (Electrify my heart).** Please enjoy this chapter.

* * *

-CONNOR- - - - -

Connor spent the weekend alone, digging deeper into the investigation. Looking over all the different clues they had found and cross referencing them with literally anything else he had found. The lack of any lead enhanced his determination to get to the bottom of this uprising. He chided himself for not being more efficient at his only purpose of existence. Many times he caught himself replaying memories of Friday night. The things he felt in those memories surfaced again inside him like a dim light. He even found himself slipping into his head palace quite often, but this time Amanda was nowhere to be found. Instead there was a very peculiar addition to the beautiful garden and it had rolled right to Connor's foot every time he had entered. It was a pool ball.

What was happening to him?

"Connor, we're heading out. Go grab Jessica."

Hank snapped Connor back to the real world, making him realise that it was already noon. He processed what the Lieutenant had said and glanced over to the detective's desk.

"Do we require Jessica for our investigation?" His tone was cold. He knew she was the cause of his abnormalities and he didn't need any more malfunctions or puzzling anomalies with his software.

"I thought you'd be happy that she was tagging along." Hank was taken aback by Connor's comment.

The android blinked. "Leuitenant, I don't feel happiness or any other emoti-"

"Yeah yeah. Jessica! C'mon! We're leaving!" He shouted over Connor to get the detective's attention.

-JESSICA- - - - - -

Upon the call of Hank, Jessica was on her feet and hurrying to put her coat on.

"Coming!" The detective called out to them as she tried to catch up. All this rushing made her feel as though she was forgetting something. The moment Jessica made it outside, she was suddenly grateful she had brought her shitty coat because it was now snowing. It was really cold, but at least it was pretty.

Once in Hank's backseat she realised what she had forgotten – her fucking gun. Oh well, best not to let them know she messed up. Wouldn't want to remind Connor what a forgetful, mistake-ridden, human she was. Jessica's sudden negative thoughts put a gloomy air around her, and she knew Hank sensed it. So he broke the silence with a quick debrief on what was happening. Apparently they were on another recently discovered deviant who had been seen providing refugee to other possible deviants. If they caught this guy, it would definitely lead them to information on the movement's leader or even the leader themselves.

The car stopped beside an apartment building that blended in perfectly with the rest of Detroit. They got out and stood before the worn brick structure.

"This is it." Hank turned to the two detectives, pointing to the android first. "Connor, you take the top floors. I'll take bottom, and Jessica will take middl-" Hank caught a quick enough glance at the woman's hip to realise her holster was empty. "Where is your fucking gun, Detective?" The annoyance and anger mixed together to create a disappointed cocktail.

"I forgot it. I'm sorry. Don't worry, I won't approach the suspect alone." Jessica's tone went dull as she recited protocols that had been burned into her head as a rookie.

Hank shook his head and his sigh was actually visible thanks to the cold. "No. New plan." He looked at both of them. "You and Connor take middle and top. I got bottom."

Jessica's need to deescalate the tension, that she caused, made some interesting words seep out of her face. "You **would** take bottom." What she had said shocked her just as much as it shocked Hank.

The lieutenant glared at the woman as she held her stunned expression.

"I'm not gonna even pretend I know what that means." He held back his anger and turned to head inside the building, shouting to the two of them from over his shoulder. "Just get your asses up there."

Before Jessica could even move, look, or breathe, Connor had already started making his way into the apartment complex. _Mission comes first of course_. The irritated detective rolled her eyes and followed.

The climb up to the 5th floor was filled with silence as Jessica felt no need to talk to an android anymore. That, or she was still embarrassed about Friday night's epiphany about Connor being just as he says. Still, she couldn't help feel that there was more to him and that he just wouldn't accept that information himself. The female detective walked down the hall as Connor scanned the narrow space.

"Jessica, I detect traces of outdoor terrain leading to this apartment." He broke the silence as he stood facing an apartment door. He turned to face her with a blank expression. "Could you open it?"

 _Open it? Why me?_ "Oh…" She sucked on her tooth as her mind sucked on the realisation. " _Now_ you want me to use my lock pick?" She raised a brow, unamused.

"Yes. It's still a useful skill when used legally." The backhanded compliment wormed its way into her mind, making her both mad and charmed at the same time. But she wouldn't admit to herself that she was charmed in any way.

Jessica blew air out her nose as she pushed Connor aside to do her business. The long painful silence aided the woman as she worked at the lock, she could hear every little click. But even with that advantage, she found herself taking much longer than she usually would. Something about how close his leg was to her back had her distracted from the task at hand.

"Fucking-stupid-fucking-lock…" She muttered under her breath.

Connor shifted behind the crouched woman, his pant leg lightly brushing against the back of her coat. "Detective. I know you preferred to investigate on your own, but I'm glad I have you accompanying me."

 _How could he do this to you? - Pull you in, push you away, pull you back in._ Jessica had never experienced this much emotional whiplash before.

Finally, she twisted the handle and swung the door open, taking in a deep breath before she spoke.

"Careful there Connor, saying stuff like that makes you sound _alive_." Venom slipped from her lips as she stood up to look at Connor.

By the way his brows creased it would seem as though he was affected by what she had said. "I'm detecting some hostility in your tone, Detective."

"Oh good. I was wondering how long it'd take for you to figure it out." She scoffed and turned to head into the small entrance room of the apartment.

"I'm sorry if I've offended you but now's not the time to be emotional, Detective. We need to stay level-headed in this investigation."

His cold remark made her stop before she even made it past the entrance closet, her nostrils flared as she turned around. Her feet took her right in front of Connor to stare up at him with narrowed eyes. With a quick breath her face relaxed into a blank slate that still contained a small amount of edge to it.

"I'll be as emotionless at you want Connor." _Fuck this guy_.

CRASH

"Shit!"

The two detectives spun their heads at the same time to look at the intrusive sound. An android rose among the broken pieces of shelves and scattered clothes from the entrance closet. Time froze as they all looked at each other as if all of they could only see motion and they were all waiting for someone to move first. In a second the android got up and jumped out the window. As soon as Jessica saw him flinch, she darted after him like a cat. Without hesitation she jumped from the window too, the adrenaline fueling her body but not her logic. Luckily she rolled onto the neighbouring building's roof and continued her pursuit.

Jessica felt like a rag-doll, like she wasn't even controlling her body and it was just moving automatically. She was a passenger in a ride she had no control over.

 _Faster, faster, faster_.

The ends of her thick coat flapped between the streams of air as she jumped across the abyss between rooftops. The android made a huge leap down from the current building they were on. This leap was not survivable for someone like her so she spotted another route – the ladder. But instead of climbing it, she wrapped her sleeves around her palms, sliding all the way down to the bottom. The speed sacred the detective but the excitement urged her on. Connor took the same route as the android, allowing him to cut down on time and to get closer to the suspect. Once her feet hit the ground she continued running, following the commotion through alleyways and streets.

If anything would help her, it would be all that anger she would use as a fuel source to keep her running. _Nothing like a hunt to really sharpen you up_. All her focus was on the next step, her mind and body only having half a second to determine what to do. The burn in her thighs hurt to the point where it was all she wanted to feel. The dry stickiness of her throat only made her want to go harder.

 _Fuck this android, fuck Connor. He thinks he's so much better than you – emotionless, tireless, and impervious to pain. At least you could feel the pain to overcome something, at least you could tire to know you worked hard, at least you could have emotions to feel anything._

Jessica could feel.

And just then, she felt pity for Connor.

The female detective hadn't seen the two androids for a while but once she turned a corner onto the main street, there they were – right on the bridge that arched over that rapid running water. To her disappointment, Connor had made it to the android first. It would seem that being an android truly was superior in an on-foot-chase. This point was only further proved when Jessica stopped to catch her breath and watch on. The two androids were fighting it out, nearly tossing each other off the bridge with their punches. At this point she really wished she hadn't forgot her gun on the desk, for now was a perfect time to hold them both at gunpoint.

The rouge android landed a swift kick against Connor's chest, sending him back far enough so he had a comfortable amount of space to pull out his concealed firearm. The gun was pointed at her partner. Time slowed and Jessica could see the profiles of both of their faces. The runaway android was in a panicked state while Connor stayed eerily calm. The fear on the deviant's face, she knew that look all too well – he was backed in a corner and would do anything to get out.

"I know you're scared. But you need to trust me…" Connor stood there, hands up slightly. "Listen. My name's Connor. I'm and android too. You don't need to be afraid of me." He inched forward.

"Don't need to be afraid of you? **You** were chasing me!" The deviant thrusted the gun towards him, making Jessica take her first few steps closer to the devolving scene. They were just about 20ft away from her now, she stopped knowing that if she got any closer the deviant would see her in his peripheral.

"It's better if I take you in. You would have been shot by any other officer and you know that." The negotiator's arms slowly lowered while the female detective crept closer. "Please, I don't want anyone to get hurt." The concern in Connor's voice tricked even Jessica. Or maybe it was actually real, either way the deviant's armed hand started to waver as it slowly lowered.

But then the android's eyes flicked down to see the gun behind Connor's side. The moment the deviant gulped Jessica knew he was going to pull that trigger. The soles of her shoes cut into the cement beneath her as her body slanted forward.

"You would have shot me too. I know that." The android lifted the gun up to Connor's head and his finger slowly started to squeeze.

The muscle fibers in her legs tore slowly upon each vicious step she took. To her, it felt like slow motion, but in reality she were tackling the android onto the ground in a matter of seconds.

-CONNOR- - - - - - -

He thought he had everything under control, the rouge android was only nearing 60% stress levels and was approaching 68% stabilization. Nothing indicated he was actually going to pull the trigger until Connor was quite literally faced in front of the firearm. In that lone second he spent staring into the black void of the gun, Connor felt a foreign horror spike up from his lungs and into the back of his throat.

BANG!

The shockwave of the sound made Connor contract almost every muscle in his body as he prepared for death yet again. But it did not come. Instead, Connor's arm recoiled as the stray bullet grazed his shoulder. The bullet's impact was not nearly as strong as the detective's impact with the ground. Connor looked to see what had happened and realised that Jessica was on the pavement struggling against the android, they fought to subdue the situation to their own benefit.

She saved him. _Why_?

Connor ran to them. The deviant struggled to reach the tossed gun as Jessica promptly kicked it away sending it sliding under the rail and over the edge of the bride. Quickly standing up now, the android saw Connor about to attack him in his peripheral. So he swung down at the woman, grabbing onto her coat and sweeping her off the ground and over the railing so fast that her legs smashed against the metal barrier.

Connor stopped in his tracks, cognising the peril at hand. All his focus landed on Jessica's face and the emotions that flashed by as she processed the situation she was in. Her hands were gripped tightly around the deviant's wrist as she stared below at the violent rapids. Connor's UI appeared showing she had a 76% chance at surviving the fall into the water below. Somehow seeing that positive number didn't reassure him at all, because for once in his existence he thought about the other side of the equation – the 24% possibility of her dying.

"Okay Connor. You don't want anyone to get hurt right?" The deviant swallowed hard. The hold he had on Jessica's coat made Connor wish this deviant was of a stronger model. "Let me walk. And I'll let her walk."

Connor needed this android. He was the only lead they had so far and they were running out of time. If Jessica fell, there was a high chance she would wash-up on the one of the banks further down the stream. Connor leaned forward slightly, his eyes darted over at the woman in peril. Her very expression made him freeze on the spot.

 **The mission comes first.**

Connor hesitantly stepped forward.

"She's human, how long could she really last in the cold water?" The android lowered Jessica very slightly earning an aimless yelp from her. The wobbly scream tremored through Connor's head, sending a ripple of distortion through his interface. It crackled red as he forced himself to stay still. He fought against the strings pulling his body parts as he stared into Jessica's eyes. The pure terror glazing over her eyes started to pull beads of tears from her. Seeing this made Connor sink inside himself, he felt as though he was separating from something inside him.

 **The mission comes first.**

 _You're too good to be true…_

 **Detain the suspect.**

 _Can't take my eyes off of you…_

 **Complete the objective.**

 _She saved you._

Connor felts a sharp pain as the UI display crackled and glitched around him. This pain pushed him one final time but he stood against it, gritting his teeth together. The red pixelated glass barrier shattered, raining non-existent material down on him. The pressure he felt for his entire existence had finally been lifted off of him, and he didn't know just how heavy it had been until it was gone.

Connor shook his head, trying to bring himself back to the situation at hand. "Okay." His calm voice was wavering as he slowly raised his hand up. "Please… give her back to me." His odd choice of words were not thought through, but merely an impulse now.

"Thank you, Connor." The deviant sighed as he started to slowly bring Jessica closer to the rail. She looked to Connor with desperate liberation making Connor swallow air. She was safe.

The relief faded from the deviants face as red and blue lights flashed against his features. The two androids looked to the other end of the bridge to see cops lined along one side. Connor's mouth went dry as he darted his head to look back at the deviant.

"I'm sorry." The deviant's hand released its grip on Jessica's coat as he started to run away.

"CONNOR!" Jessica fell, hands reaching up towards the person she was screaming to. The person that she saved, and the person that had now let her fall.

"Jessica!" Connor slammed himself against the rail reaching out his hand to catch her, but she was gone.

He didn't think of anything else, he just acted. Before he knew it, he had thrown himself over the railing, getting into a position that would lessen the impact with water. The shock of cold water did nothing to Connor, he had already experienced the worst shock in his existence. The current was vicious, tossing the two around as if they were mere playthings. He spotted her back barely floating above the surface of the water, but it slipped away. Connor went underwater and saw her flowing along with the currents. He swam hard, reaching out to her randomly flowing limbs.

 _Now that I've found you stay…_

He grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him and above the surface of the water. He bobbed along the currents, desperately trying to keep Jessica's head above water as he swam to the nearest upcoming bank. His foot found sand and he dug it in, resisting the power of the current as he walked onto the shore with the woman in his arms. Upon land he quickly laid her on the ground and tilted her head back slightly. He ripped open the top part of her blouse, making the buttons pop off. From there he did chest compressions, pumping the balls of his fist hard against her chest. Her lifeless body merely absorbed the impact and her lips stayed parted. He continued with step two; mouth to mouth. Her icy lips sent him into an unfamiliar state as he now frantically started performing chest compressions. He didn't take his eyes off her face as it swayed slightly upon each thrust.

 _Stay._

Her brows furrowed just as her neck muscles contracted to cough up water. Connor stopped and quickly cradled her face, moving the wet strands of hair out of her eyes. The shaky violent coughs that came from her little lungs filled Connor with relief and worry. His body moved without thought as he pulled her up to his chest, cradling her in his arms. He found himself holding her without any regard for composure or regulations. He needed to be as close to her as possible, it was the only way to make up for almost being as far away from her. His biocomponant #8456w hammered hard in his chest, his fingers trembled slightly as they grabbed and dug into Jessica's coat. Everything inside him screamed to keep her close, to never let go, it controlled every fiber in his being to wrap itself around her in an attempt to protect her from anything and everything.

The feeling of her shaking arms coiling around his torso broke him from his frenzied state enough to realise she was a human that was soaking wet in negative temperatures. Without warning he pulled her away and started taking off her soaking wet coat. His hands stationed themselves at her shoulders, keeping her sitting up in front of him. Her eyes fluttered as she struggled faintly to keep her head straight. Connor found his hands had quickly crept up to cup her face, keeping her attention on him. His lips parted, unsure for a moment what to do.

"Can you count backwards from 100 by 5's for me?" He needed to asses her higher brain reasoning to determine how severe her hypothermia was.

Her lazy eyes tightened down as she winced. "Connor… I didn't become a detective to do fucking math."

Even though she didn't properly answer the question to diagnose the issue, hearing her voice once more made Connor's body go warm again. He pulled her into his chest, hoping he could transfer some heat to the shivering woman. "Jessica."

-JESSICA- - - - - - -

Jessica's name was spoken in a way it had never been before, as if it were a prayer or sacred blessing. Something so sanctified that it was reserved for only the most intimate of times. The closeness was there too, not only did he say her name with relief but he had desperately thrust his cheek against her temple, lips brushing against the tip of her ear as he spoke. The woman's cold blood started to warm beneath her numb skin as a wave of heat pulsed through her. Although her arms were shaking, she still found them trying to make their way around Connor's torso. Something was thudding rapidly against her chest, and it was only after she had felt Connor squeeze his grip around her that she realised it was his heart. His heart was beating faster than hers. Was that because of the freezing dampness and intense swim, or because of her? Jessica let out a shaky breath at the thought, which Connor then mirrored causing his lips to graze the tip of her ear and hair. The sound of his hesitant breath and quivering lips sent another warm pulse throughout her body, this was only increased when she felt him gulp. Her shaking hands gripped his back as hard as they could in an effort to reciprocate the feelings of relief. He reacted to this by pressing his cheek harder against her temple, this time making his nose rub against her scalp.

"Connor." She breathed into his neck.

He shuddered and moved his hand up to the back of her wet head, pushing her face closer against his neck. Jessica wanted to stay in this moment forever. The warmth of his neck plus the warmth of her own breath hitting her frozen face was so soothing.

The sound of distant sirens broke the two apart, sending them back to appropriately distanced up-right sitting positions. They looked at one another with silent bewilderment.

"I'm sorry." Connor's words floated on a panty breath.

Jessica shut her open mouth and just stared at him, utterly confused.

His cheeks were tinting blue, and without even attempting to think about the logic behind why, she just stopped her mind to stare at the handsome man before her.


End file.
